Suchergebnisse

The conventional wisdom on the basic philosophy of the constitutional concept of the separation of powers is well stated in The Federalist. In No. 47, citing the authority of the "celebrated Montesquieu," James Madison wrote that "the accumulation of all powers legislative, executive and judiciary in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." Clearly the Founding Fathers feared the corrupting influence of power. As Madison asked in No. 51, "what is government itself but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary." Another concise statement of the separation of powers concept is found in the famous remark made by Justice Brandeis in 1926, in his dissenting opinion in the Myers case, that "the doctrine of the separation of powers was adopted by the Convention of 1787 not to promote efficiency but to preclude the exercise of arbitrary power. The purpose was not to avoid friction, but, by means of the inevitable friction incident to the distribution of governmental powers among three departments, to save the people from autocracy."

THE CONCEPT OF THE SEPARATION OF POWERS IS NOT ONLY A POLITICAL THEORY IN THE US, IT IS A RULE OF CONSTITUTIONAL LAW WHICH IS ULTIMATELY ENFORCEABLE IN THE COURTS. THUS NEARLY ALL SEPARATION OF POWERS ISSUES ARE DECIDED BY THE COURTS.

"December 20, 1972." ; Cover title. ; Includes bibliographical references (p. 9-10). ; Mode of access: Internet.